


Blue Paladins

by Animefangirl1221



Series: Stars in Space [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Allura is obviously still in charge of Voltron, F/M, His name is Lance as well, Hunk and Pidge are still Paladins, Keith has a son, Keith is retired, Lance is adorable, Lance meets the rest of the Paladins, Lance thinks that the blue Paladin is just the coolest, M/M, POV First Person, So is Shiro, Technically it's a spaceship but whateves, We're going on a trip in our favorite rocketship, keith's pov, kinda post cannon?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-15
Updated: 2017-06-16
Packaged: 2018-11-14 14:30:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11209986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Animefangirl1221/pseuds/Animefangirl1221
Summary: Years after Blue Paladin Lance has died, Keith has retired and moved on from Voltron. He settled down and adopted the most adorable and energetic little boy also named Lance. Lance is extremely curious about Voltron and his dad's past as the Red Paladin. One day Keith promises Lance that he would take him to the Castle of Lions to meet the Paladins of Voltron, new and old, and see the Lions. The trip goes well until Lance wanders off with no supervision.What will happen when Lance makes a discovery that he's too young to deal with?





	1. A Trip to the Castle

**Author's Note:**

> So I got this idea from a fan art and a comment on Instagram.
> 
> After Lance dies in battle and the universe has been saved from Zarkon and the Galra, Keith retires and goes back to Earth where he adopts a little boy also named Lance.
> 
> This was supposed to be a little one shot but it ended up being huge and the plot developed into something more than what I had planned. ^_^;;; Keith is pretty OOC from cannon but the current time setting is after several years in space and having to care for a child for at least three of those years.
> 
> Everyone is aged up significantly. Keith is in his late twenties but his Galra genes kicked in around 20 and slowed his aging quite a bit so he still looks like he did at age 20. Hunk is just barely older than Keith by a year. Pidge is just barely in their early twenties. Shiro is an old fart in his mid forties. ;) Allura and Coran still look basically the same as they do in cannon seeing as I'm guessing that they age way differently from humans. Lance died around his eighteenth birthday and little Lance is eight.
> 
> I hope that wasn't too confusing. XP Don't be afraid to drop a comment to ask me to clear things up! I hope you guys all like it and happy reading! ^w^

"Dad. Hey dad." A young voice said as it broke through my dreams and pulled me back to reality.

"Hmmm, whaat?" I groan not wanting to be woken up at whatever hour it was.

"Daaaad. You gotta get up." The voice insisted, this time with a thin finger poking my cheek gingerly.

I open one sleepy eye to see who had awoken me. My gaze settled on brown locks that were well taken care of and the tanned face of an eight year old boy. His eyes a warm shade of brown that carried restlessness and excitement for the new day. His lips twisted into a sort of impatient pout, hand still extended to poke at my cheek again.

"Mmmm." I hummed sleepily. "And why do I need to get up? I'm pretty sure that I don't have work." I say shifting a bit so that I can look at my son more clearly. He nods with excitement. "And I'm sure that summer vacation started yesterday."

"Yeah it did! But you hafta get up! You gotta get up nooww." He whines, becoming more and more impatient with my stalling.

"Well why do I need to get up if there's nothing to do today?" I question knowing exactly why he was so excited.

"Because!" He finally exploded, jumping up onto my bed to pounce on me. "Because you promised to take me to meet the other Paladins of Voltron!! You said that we would get to see the lions!"

He bounced up and down on the bed in impatience. His behavior making me chuckle. I shoot up and snatch him into my arms, tickling him as I did. His laughter soon permeated the morning air.

"Oh really?" I ask in mock innocence as I tickle him even more. "Is that what I said?"

"Y-yes!" He manages to get out between giggles.

"Then I guess we better get ready!" I say as I let him go and he scrambles off of the bed to get away from me.

"Yaay!!" He yells as he runs down the hall to his room to get ready for our outing.

I smile at the doorway where he had just been. It astonishes me to see how many similarities to his namesake he had. With a sigh I get up and start getting ready for our outing.

After getting dressed I made a very healthy breakfast of toast, apple juice, and Lance’s favorite sugary cereal. After pulling everything out and setting it on the bar, I put the toast in the toaster and called out to Lance.

“Lance! Breakfast is going to be ready soon so you need to hurry up and eat so you can brush your teeth and we can leave.” I call then turn to the fridge to pull out the jam I had forgotten to get earlier. Soon the toast pops up and I put both slices of bread on a plate for Lance before placing two more bread slices in the toaster for myself.

“Kay!” I hear Lance answer back. Soon footsteps could be heard as Lance came running down the hallway.

He got up on a barstool and quickly poured himself a bowl of cereal. I pour his milk for him so that he wouldn’t have to struggle with the newly opened gallon. Lance quickly scarfed down his breakfast then jumped off of his stool and dashed to their shared bathroom. I smile as I watch him run to get ready and pick up his dishes to put them in the sink.

“Make sure that you scrub those teeth otherwise you’ll get cavities!” I shout from the kitchen before finishing my toast.

“Kay I will!” He answers back.

I finish my own breakfast and start gathering up the rest of the breakfast dishes to load them into the dishwasher. After everything has been loaded up I start the dishwasher and walk to the bathroom to brush my teeth as well. By the time I got there Lance came running out and bolted to his bedroom yelling something about missing something. He was much too energetic at just before nine in the morning for his age. I sigh and continue getting ready.

We were almost ready to leave but my son was nowhere to in sight. I pulled on a pair of black biker boots then looked down the hall to see what was taking him so long.

"Lance!" I call out, my heartstrings pulling a bit at the name. "We're going to be late if you don't hurry up!"

His response was muffled, as if he was under a mound of blankets or something like that. "I can't find my jacket!"

I sigh at this and walk down the hallway to Lance's room. "Where was the last place you saw it?" I ask as I arrive to see piles of laundry, both clean and dirty, strewn about. One of said piles moved and caught my attention.

I walked over to the moving pile of clothing and picked up the top half. Underneath the armful of clothes I found a slightly embarrassed boy with a sock on his head that hung down to cover his left eye. I smiled at him and placed the clothes I was holding on Lance's bed. I picked Lance up from his little nest of laundry, grateful for keeping up with my Paladin exercise routines, and set him on my left hip.

"You know if you keep dawdling around we're not going to be able to see the other Paladins and the lions." I say in all seriousness but with a gentle smile on my face.

"I know, but I found my jacket! Now we can go!" Lance says with a certain excitement in his voice.

"Alright." I say then set him down on the ground and hold his hand. "Let's get going then."

Lance jumps a bit with a joyful exclamation. Then we were on our way to the Castle of Lions teleport. Taking my bike as per request by Lance.

~~~

We parked the bike just outside of a Garrison owned building. Lance was practically vibrating with excitement. He had never seen the place since since I'd never taken him with me when I still worked as a Paladin here on Earth. He had only ever heard stories about my adventures and missions. I did tell him about Lance and he hung onto every word.

We entered the building and several officers saluted me I returned it and continued walking. Lance gripped my hand as we made our way to the front desk, at least until he saw the giant holographic statue of Lance in his Paladin armor resting his helmet on his right hip.

Lance gasps and runs towards the statue. "Dad! Dad dad dad! Dad, that's Lance! Oh my gosh he's so cool!! Like, cooler than I thought he'd be!" Lance gasped as he jumped up and down.

I chuckle at him and his childish excitement and wonder. "I know Lance. I was there when Pidge built and programmed it."

Lance turned to me with wide eyes. "I get to meet Pidge today, right? And Hunk and Shiro and the lions. Can I meet Princess Allura and Coran? Can I? Can I can I can I? Pleeease?"

Chuckling again, I nod. "Alright. But you need a special badge to see them. Why don't we go get one?" I say extending my hand out to the extremely excited little boy.

"Ok!" He basically shouts as he takes ahold of my hand once again.

We finally make our way to the front desk. I greet the lady that sits there and she gives us high clearance visitor badges. I thank her and then we were on our way to the back of the building to get to the teleport.

Our walk there was very uneventful. I had instructed Lance that he could not let go of my hand until we got to the teleport. We did chat a bit, he told me about all of the things he had brought in his backpack to keep him busy when everyone was working. I told him not to leave anything laying about so as not to lose them. He promised not to and we finally arrived at the teleport room. The teleport technician talked Lance through what would happen and what he would see when we got to the Castle. He took it all in stride and we stood on the teleport pad, awaiting to be sent to the Castle. Soon white light surrounded us, when it faded we were on the Castle.


	2. Adventures in the Castle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ever since Lance stepped foot on the Castle of Lions it has been an adventure for him and a rollercoaster of emotions for Keith.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! So I got this chapter done super quick and I decided to post it now. :3 There is an OC that I introduce. She does have a major role in the fic but won't appear again for the next few chapters. Thank you so much for all of your support! Happy reading! ^w^

“Daaaad! We’re in the Castle of Lions! OH MY GOSH DAD WE MADE IT!!!” Lance jumped up and down before running around the hallways they were walking though.

One of the cadets that had been assigned to the Castle stared at Lance with all of his enthusiasm and energy as she guided the pair through the hallways. I sighed and watched Lance carefully, making sure that he didn’t run into a wall and get hurt or break something. Hopefully he would calm down by the time we met up with my friends and the new Paladins. Soon Lance disappeared out of sight and that worried me to no end.

“Lance! Don’t go too far!” I waited for a response of some kind or for him to come bacon my line of sight, but when he did neither it set me on edge. I motioned a thank you to the cadet before taking off. Leaving her in a semi-distressed state. “Lance! You need to come back!” I call out again.

Where in the world was he? The Castle is no place for a small child to wander around unsupervised. Of course Pidge came out mostly unscathed from the years we had spent here but Lance was half the age that Pidge was when they first came to live here. I ran through hallways that were familiar from spending years exploring the Castle while on duty. Nothing had really changed other than it was much much cleaner and the Castle now had a full crew manning her. I ran past several different rooms and hallways that branched off from the one I was currently in. Soon I came upon a blue skinned alien consoling a small child. As I ran closer to the pair I saw that the small child was actually my small child.

“Lance!” I shouted before scooping him up in my arms. He was crying a bit but seemed to calm down when he saw me and burrowed into my embrace. I looked up to the one who had been helping Lance with a grateful look in my eye. "Thank you for finding him."

The alien saluted, their posture stiff. "It was no trouble sir. I saw the little one wandering around and saw that it was in his best interest to help." There was a pause before they spoke again. "It is an honor to meet you sir. I have heard all the stories about your days as the Red Paladin."

I stood up with Lance on my hip, head resting on my shoulder, and extended my hand out to the alien. They took my hand and shook it with a firm grip. It was then that I noticed that not only was their skin a deep blue color but their ears were shaped more like a sheep's. Their eyes were a particular shade of orange, almost like the color of a sunset back on Earth. Their black hair seemed to be dreadlocked, there were random beads, feathers, and what looked like jewels scattered among the locks. It was pulled into a low pony tail that rested over the alien's left shoulder and hung so that the tips of their hair reached the bottom of their ribs. They were dressed in a higher ranking officer's uniform.

"It's nice to see that this old place is thriving and her crew is well educated. Hopefully you've only heard the good things instead of our misadventures." I say with a practiced smile on my face. "We were on our way to the command deck before this little one got too excited and ran away. Would you like to join us?"

"If you will permit sir." They responded.

"At ease. What's your name?" I ask as we start on our way. By this time Lance had calmed down enough that I could set him down to walk on his own but continued to hold his hand.

"My name doesn't translate well into English so I chose the name Laura to be known by." The alien now named 'Laura' states.

"And what kind of English pronouns do you use Laura?" I ask. It may seem like a silly thing to ask considering that they had chosen a feminine sounding name, but it was very important to ask to avoid insulting the other party. Allura had drilled it into me, as well as the other Paladins, after a few botched diplomatic missions where the other party severed ties with Voltron because of misgendering and such.

"Feminine. She and her are just fine, sir." Laura says. She walks a step behind me at all times.

I nod and look down at Lance. He catches me looking at him and meets my eyes. We stare at each other for a bit before he smiles and looks forward again. It seems that getting lost has calmed him down a bit. Well, at least for now anyway. I turned back to face forward.

After a long silence I decided to break the ice a bit more. "So how long have you been here Laura?" I ask our companion.

"Nearly four years sir." She answered curtly.

"So you were assigned here just after I retired. What was your post?" I inquire further.

"I was one of the Paladin Apprentices sir." Laura says sounding particularly proud of the fact.

And she was right to be. The Paladin Apprentice Program started up shortly after Lance had died. Without a Blue Paladin to pilot the Blue Lion we had to find another one on an extremely short notice. Allura was able to pilot Blue for a while but found that she was much better suited for Castle support. With Voltron in need of a new Blue Paladin they talked over their options. They found that it would be a better idea to gather people that the Lions connected with in advance so as to be able to form Voltron even when one of the Paladins were not able to perform their duties. Within that next year, or somewhere close to that time frame, they had gathered at least two 'backup' Paladins for each Lion as well as a new Blue Paladin. Seeing as they couldn't really be called backups they elected to call them Paladin Apprentices. Now that the universe was mostly peaceful they had built up the Program. Each Lion still had her Paladin as well as two Apprentices but it was much harder to become an Apprentice. There were rigorous tests and trials that all applicants were put through before they were even considered for an Apprentice position.

"Oh really?" I ask, this tidbit of information piqued my interest. "Which Paladin were you an Apprentice for?"

Before Laura could answer our little group had reached the command deck. When the doors opened the familiar sights and sounds rushed my senses. I relaxed a bit from the familiarity of the place. Lance grips my hand harder as his excitement returns.

"Dad!" He whisper yells as he pulls at my arm. "Dad this is so cool!"

I kneel down so I'm at his level. I small smile playing on my lips. "I know, this is where I worked for the majority of my young adult life. But you can't let go of my hand. I don't want you getting lost again. Ok?" Lance nods fervently and I chuckle a bit. "Alright." I stand up again and face Laura. "Thank you for your company. I guess this is where we part ways."

Laura salutes, "Until we meet again sir." She says before disappearing into the chaotic order which is the command deck.

"Keith!" I hear someone shout over the noise in the room.

I look around, trying to see who called out to me, when I see Pidge making their way across the floor to where we stood. Hunk not far behind them. The two of them had changed a bit throughout the years. Pidge was definitely taller and a bit more filled out though their huge round glasses still donned their face. They had taken a more feminine look with shoulder length hair tied in a messy ponytail and curves that could barely be seen under baggy green clothing. Hunk on the other hand had slimmed down a bit but was still a heavyset guy. He still wore his yellow orange headband and dark green vest.

When Pidge reached us they practically jumped on top of me. Even though Pidge was still extremely small and skinny for their age it still knocked my breath out of my lungs when they tackled me to the ground. Luckily enough, I let go of Lance's hand before falling to the floor with Pidge on top of me. A few other officers glanced our way before returning to their jobs.

"Pidge!" I shouted. "Get off of me you weirdo!”

“No! You haven’t come back to the Castle in almost three years! You jerk!” Pidge yelled as they smushed my face with their hands.

Suddenly Lance was there staring at Pidge as they sat on my stomach. Pidge startled a bit at the new tiny guest but still smiled anyway. When Lance saw Pidge’s smile, a wide grin lit up his face. Luckily I was able to get Pidge’s hands off of my face by then.

“You’re Pidge!” Lance shouted eliciting more glances in our direction.

Pidge laughed and finally got up off of me, which I was thankful for. “Yep, that’s me!” Then they turned to me. "And who is this little gremlin?”

Hunk reached down to help me up from off of the floor. When I was standing back on my own feet I answered them. “This is my son Lance.” Everyone knew that I had adopted a son soon after I had retired from the Paladin lifestyle but I don’t think anyone other than Shiro knew what his name was. I guess that’s why the two Paladins froze for a second before resuming a normal function.

Lance beamed up at Pidge and Hunk. “My dad promised that if I got good scores on all of my end of year testing I could come meet all of you!”

I chuckle and move over to Lance, placing a hand on his head and ruffling his hair. “Yep. He ended up not only being top of his class but his grade as well. He worked really hard to get there.”

“I studied really hard!” Lance says with pride.

I look to my two friends. “Why don’t we go somewhere where we won’t be in the way.”

“Uh, sure. The lounge should be mostly empty right now. Do you want to go there?” Hunk says, finally speaking up.

“Yay!’ Lance shouts as he darts out of the command deck through the door we had just come through.

“Lance! Don’t run ahead! You’ll get lost again!” I shout as I quickly follow him. I hear my friends laughing at my exasperated state before following me.

I caught up to Lance then we had to wait for Pidge and Hunk to catch up to us. It didn’t take too long before we were all walking to the lounge. Lance asked the Paladins question after question as we walked.

“My dad said that you built the statue in the Garrison teleport building. Did you really?” Lance asked looking at Pidge and walking backwards.

“I did and it took a reeeally long time.” Pidge says with a little smile.

Lance looked up at them with wide eyes. “Like, how long? How long is reeeally long?”

“Two. Weeks. It took me two weeks to make that statue.” Pidge says in all seriousness.

“Oh my gosh really?! That’s sooo long! How could you do it?” Lance asks, getting quite excited about the subject.

Pidge sighs like it was so hard to put it all together when Hunk and I knew that for Pidge, something like that was just a walk in the park. 

“It was a hard journey but I was able to pull through somehow.” Pidge says dramatically, wiping away an imaginary tear as they placed a hand over their heart. “What about you kiddo? Have you ever done anything that hard?”

Lance looked down at his feet and mumbled something.

“What was that?” Pidge asks.

"I, um, when I made my first robot for my science fair.” Lance stared at his shoes as a slight blush painted his cheeks.

“Really?” Hunk asked, scooping up the boy and placing him on his shoulder as our group arrived in the lounge. “I bet you won first prize!” 

Lance giggled and beamed proudly. “I did! I did! Even amber from Miss Lins class didn’t beat me this time and she’s my, my…” He stopped, trying to remember what the word was he was looking for.

“Your rival.” I helped.

“Rival! Yeah, she’s my rival. Thanks dad.” Another bright smile.

“You’re welcome.” I smile a bit back at my little boy.

“A rival huh?” A voice said from the other side of the lounge. “You sound just like your uncle.”

We turned to see who spoke and found a tall man with a little girl clinging to one of his legs. We instantly identified him as Shiro, the former Black Paladin. The little girl clinging to him was his youngest, Yuki Shirogane.

“Uncle Shiro!” Lance shouted with glee as he tried to get down from his perch on Hunk’s shoulder.

Hunk laughed and set him down. As soon as Lance’s feet were on the floor he bolted over to Shiro and gave him a hug. The two embraced for a bit before Lance moved to greet his ‘cousin’. I smile at the sight.

“Hi Yuki.” Lance says with a smile. “Did you come to see the Paladins too?”

Yuki nodded, still clinging to her dad’s pant leg. She was extremely shy, even around people that she knew. Yuki was the youngest of four kids at age seven. Her older brothers and sister took good care of her when their parents were busy with work. But as former Paladin’s children they were hidden away during most of their early childhood in a rural part of Japan to keep them out of the limelight until they were old enough to choose.

“That’s cool! I’m here to see them too. Hey, I brought some stuff to play with. I think I have some coloring stuff. You wanna color with me?” Lance asked, knowing that Yuki was extremely nervous because of the new environment and all of the new faces.

Yuki looked up at Shiro with a question in her eyes. Shiro nodded and the two kids ran off to color at the low lying table surrounded by couches. I watched the two as they interacted. Lance pulled out two or three coloring books, a pad of blank paper, and two boxes of crayons. 

Lance was very sensitive and in tune to the people around him and their needs. It made him think of others more often than himself but he was pretty good at remembering his own needs. He knew when it was time to stop and let whoever he was helping figure out what to do next.

I smile at the two as they color together before turning back to the other three adults in the room. Apparently Pidge had been bragging about how Lance liked them more than Hunk. Hunk on the other hand was protesting, saying that he just needed more time to interact with the small child.

"I'm pretty sure that if I had brought some cookies with me he'd like me a lot more that you Pidge." Hunk states, crossing his arms over his chest with a smile on his face.

"Yeah, but it's your cookies against my robots. I'm pretty sure that I'd win if he saw my workshop." Pidge shoots back. Friendly competition coloring their voice as they lean forward towards Hunk, hands on hips.

“I don’t think Lance could pick a favorite. Besides, as favorite Uncles go I think I have both of you beat. I’ve known him since the adoption agency dropped him off at Keith’s apartment.” Shiro says in a misleadingly modest voice as he wore a slight smirk.

“I don’t think Lance has a favorite anything.” I say joining the conversation. “He’s much too softhearted to love someone or something more than another. Well, except for asparagus. He hates that.” I let out an exasperated sigh as they all laugh at the notion.

We move over to a different spot so that we can sit down and talk some more. The table we sat at had a clear view of where the kids were coloring so I wasn’t too worried. We talked about everything and anything. Pidge gave a sort of report of what was happening with Voltron as well as some side projects that they had been working on. Hunk told us about his cooking adventures and told us that we had to get together with everyone and have a huge family dinner where he could show off all of his skills. We got Shiro to finally boast proudly about his other kids like the dad he was. Then it was my turn. I told Pidge and Hunk what they wanted to hear about Lance and our life.

Soon though I noticed that I couldn’t hear Lance talking anymore. I glanced over to where they had set up Lance’s coloring stuff and found that neither Lance or Yuki were there coloring anymore.

“Shiro.” I say, scanning the rest of the room, trying to find the missing children.

Shiro glanced over at me with a worried look then followed my gaze. “Where are Yuki and Lance?” He asks.

“I don’t know.” Panic was now starting to seep into my voice. “Lance is usually really good about telling me where he’s going before leaving and I know Yuki would never leave without telling someone first.”

“I’ll pull up Yuki’s position. I made sure that she was wearing her KidSafe watch before we left.” Shiro says as he pulls out his phone.

I get up and walk over to where Lance and Yuki had been. Crayons and colored pages were scattered about on the table. My heart dropped a bit when I saw Lance’s backpack leaning against one of the table legs. I pick it up and look through the pockets. Sure enough Lance’s own KidSafe watch was in one of the outer pockets. Even if we found Yuki there was no guarantee that we would find Lance with her.

My heart dropped even more when alarms went off and red lights flooded the Castle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh dear, Lance has gone missing and he's dragged Yuki into his adventures as well. DX The next chapter will be from Lance's POV so look out for that.
> 
> I was planning on the next scene being all cute and fluffy and heartwarming, but who needs that when I can just write some angst. ;) I promise that it won't be too angsty.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading! And thank you again for all of your support! Your comments and kudos make my day every time I open my email! ^w^

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Comments, kudos, and constructive criticism are all welcome! I love reading your comments and it just makes my day! ^w^


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